Put a (Wine) Cork in it!

Dear Pablo: It seems that alternatives to traditional bottle corks are gaining in popularity but are they a more eco-friendly option?Today you can find wine closures ranging from the traditional cork to synthetic corks and aluminum screw top closures. Even the traditional glass bottle itself has been replaced by some wineries with plastic wine bottle-shaped bottles, TetraPaks, and "Bag-in-Box" packages. While many of the packaging innovations are the result of efforts in shipping weight reduction, the new closures are motivated by a number of different factors.

Alternatives to corkSince 90 percent of the annual 340,000 ton cork production comes from Europe (Portugal 52 percent, Spain 32 percent, Italy six percent) the energy used, emissions created, and cost of shipping corks to wine-producing regions in New Zealand and Australia are not insignificant. According to Tyler Colman, of DrVino.com, "almost whole countries, such as New Zealand, are bottling under screw caps now." In addition to this, the aluminum screw caps are readily recyclable in current recycling systems, that may not be equipped to accept used corks. Another problem with cork is that it can lead to "cork taint," from the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), which imparts an aroma similar to a moldy rag. According to the cork industry's association, APCOR, the rate of cork taint is around 1%, while Wine Spectator has found it to be as high as 7%.

Cork: The life cycle storyBut cork is not all bad. Cork is a sustainable harvested, renewable resource that comes from the Cork Oak Tree. At the age of 25 the tree's bark can be harvested every 9 years, for a period of around 200 years. While the cork is growing it is sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the financial viability of cork growers helps provide long term habitat protection for countless species. According to an independent LCA study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers determined that corks are the most sustainable wine closure, and another study of wine closures showed that a cork resulted in 8 grams of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 16 for a synthetic cork, and 52 grams for a 35 percent recycled aluminum screw cap.

Image Source: CorkTruck.com
Dear Pablo: It seems that alternatives to traditional bottle corks are gaining in popularity but are they a more eco-friendly option?Today you can find wine closures ranging from the traditional cork to synthetic corks and